Who this is for

Adoption practitioners and managers (Voluntary Adoption Agencies, Regional Adoption Agencies, Local Authorities, and independent social workers), children’s social care services, children and family social workers, foster carers, kinship carers and other professionals working with children and families.

Details

This training will challenge your thoughts on birth parents, question the processes they have to go through within adoption and feel ready to return to your work place and make some positive changes. You will hear birth parents views on the workers they have encountered, the experiences they have had and the changes they feel should be made.  These views will be shared via recordings and some direct thoughts from birth parents who will be part of the webinar.

“I thought the facilitator Ally was very passionate about her role supporting birth parents, she definitely promotes the hearing the voices of birth parents and using their experiences, thoughts, ideas to develop practice. I totally agree birth parents voices should be heard and listened to inform future practice. Therefore it was really good for the birth parents on this webinar to share their experiences.” – Attendee, 2022

Ally Osnowska at PACT will discuss what she has learnt over her time running Birth Family Matters, the tools she uses, and the challenges she faces in her day to day work.

“The webinar fully met my expectations, the facilitator was clearly a very experienced and passionate practitioner working with birth parents, she is clearly a good advocate for birth parents trying to ensure that birth parents voices are heard and they are more visible in the whole process” – Attendee, 2022

Supporting birth relatives at a time of significant loss is challenging. This training will look at:

• When to engage birth parents
• Practical exercises that have been especially positive for engaging birth parents
• How birth family support groups can have a positive impact on their wellbeing
• How supporting birth parents can support the adoptive placement

Learning outcomes

• To gain ideas and guidance on how to work alongside birth parents and support them in a beneficial and effective manner
• To further the focus in your practice on birth parents and the role they can play with the adoption process and the importance of this for the child, the adopters and the birth parents themselves
• To gain a better first hand understanding of a birth parent’s experience of adoption
• To have a chance to reflect on our own personal practice and how this can be changed to improve our impact on families and their futures

About the trainer

Ally Osnowska

Ally has 17 years experience of working in children’s social care. She has run the Birth Family Matters service in Dorset since 2019 and is very passionate about the work she does and is very proud of the birth parents she supports.  She aims to make the process of adoption less traumatising for birth parents and has an amazing group of birth parents who are helping her in her goals.

Before this role she worked as a Social Worker in a Looked after child team and spent two years working in a children’s hospice, supporting families in their grief.

Instructions

A member of staff will be in touch with attendees one week prior to the event to share a pre-event delegate pack. If you have any questions regarding this webinar, please contact us at info@cvaa.org.uk. We will aim to answer your query within two working days.

CVAA accept online payments only. In case you do not have instant access to your company card, we suggest using your personal card instead to book a training event and claim it back with your agency in your expenses. Requesting an invoice to pay for our standard practice events is not possible.

Who this is for

Adoption practitioners and managers (Voluntary Adoption Agencies, Regional Adoption Agencies and Local Authorities) and Independent Professionals.

Details

In its national adoption strategy (published in 2021), the government set out its intention to explore with Ofsted how to improve the current inspection and regulation arrangements, to achieve ‘the right level of scrutiny and reassurance across all key elements of adoption practice, and more accurately reflect the way that services are now delivered’. This session will provide a chance for delegates to hear more about this and share thoughts on the potential opportunities for improvement.

“It’s a relatively unique opportunity to ‘sit down’ with Ofsted and discuss inspection and Ofsted’s work away from the pressure of an inspection. We can learn more about each other’s perspective this way.” – Attendee, October 2020

This session will also provide the opportunity for delegates to learn about and discuss Ofsted’s work relating to adoption, including recent inspection findings and the impact of COVID-19 on its approach and activity.

“[I enjoyed…] Hearing that Ofsted are working with VAA’s and RAA’s to ensure excellent adoption services work for children and families. I also really gained from considering different ways of ensuring the child and young persons voice is heard and influential in all we do. A really useful webinar.” – Attendee, March 2022

We expect that regulatory inspectors will be able to join the discussion. Delegates are encouraged to submit specific questions ahead of the session.

This expert-led practice session will be delivered under the Chatham House Rule. The Chatham House Rule helps create a trusted environment to understand and resolve complex problems. Its guiding spirit is: share the information you receive but do not reveal the identity of who said it.

Learning outcomes

This is an opportunity for colleagues to:

• Through discussion, an up-to-date overview of policy developments relating to Ofsted’s adoption inspections
• A wider understanding of inspection approach and methodology, and recent inspection findings
• Hear Ofsted’s reflections on their inspections of adoption services
• Share your experiences of adoption inspections
• Discuss common priorities and share views on how inspection can best support improvement in practice

About the trainers

Tracey Coglan Greig

Tracey is Ofsted’s Senior Officer for Adoption and Fostering. She leads on the ongoing development and oversight of inspection frameworks, policy, and guidance in relation to adoption and fostering. Prior to taking up this post in February 2022, Tracey worked for Ofsted as a social care regulatory inspector. In that role she registered, inspected, and monitored a range of children’s social care settings including voluntary adoption agencies, adoption support agencies and children’s services in local authorities. Before she joined Ofsted Tracey worked for 26 years in both private and statutory children’s services.

Dawn Bennett

Dawn Bennett is an experienced social care regulatory inspector and has worked in regulation and inspection since 1998. She is an experienced fostering and adoption inspector, also inspecting these elements of local authority services under the ILACS framework. Dawn is a registered social worker, holds a BSc Hons degree in Applied Social Sciences, a PG in social services management and a PG in regulation of health and social care. She has extensive social work experience in local authorities, charities and the private sector. She has worked in various roles including child protection, training foster carers and adopters, the All Wales Strategy and management roles in children’s homes and residential special schools.

Instructions

A member of staff will be in touch with attendees one week prior to the event to share a pre-event delegate pack.

If you have any questions regarding this webinar, please contact us at info@cvaa.org.uk. We will aim to answer your query within two working days.

CVAA accept online payments only. In case you do not have instant access to your company card, we suggest using your personal card instead to book a training event and claim it back with your agency in your expenses. Requesting an invoice to pay for our standard practice events is not possible.

Who this is for

Adoption practitioners and managers (Voluntary Adoption Agencies, Regional Adoption Agencies, Local Authorities, and independent social workers), children’s social care services, children and family social workers, foster carers, kinship carers, designated teachers, and other professionals working with children and families.

Details

TBC

Learning outcomes

TBC

About the trainer

Jacqui Bazley

Instructions

A member of staff will be in touch with attendees one week prior to the event to share a pre-event delegate pack.

If you have any questions regarding this webinar, please contact us at info@cvaa.org.uk. We will aim to answer your query within two working days.

CVAA accept online payments only. In case you do not have instant access to your company card, we suggest using your personal card instead to book a training event and claim it back with your agency in your expenses. Requesting an invoice to pay for our standard practice events is not possible.

Who this is for

Adoption practitioners and managers (Voluntary Adoption Agencies, Regional Adoption Agencies, Local Authorities, and independent social workers), children’s social care services, children and family social workers, foster carers, kinship carers, designated teachers, and other professionals working with children and families.

Details

Sensory processing refers to the neurological process of how the brain receives, organises, and helps us respond to the world we live in. It is fundamental to how we survive and thrive in the world. Developmental trauma refers to adverse experiences that can interfere with healthy development, including that of the sensory systems. These experiences can disrupt the development of the nervous system, leading to sensory processing difficulties.

In this expert-led training session, together with occupational therapists from the Centre for Adoption Support, we will explore how adopted children may have experienced developmental trauma and how this can impact their sensory modulation. Using a bottom-up approach, we will consider how to best help adoptive parents to support their child’s sensory development.

“It was extremely informative and the presenters had a great deal of knowledge and experience in this area” – Attendee, 2023

You will have an opportunity to learn what Centre of Adoption Support are doing in terms of specific aspects of this work, whilst at the same time having the opportunity to deepen your understanding of sensory modulation, sensorimotor development and sensory-attachment approaches.

“There was a wealth of information that was shared along with examples which was really helpful to put it into context” – Attendee, 2023

You will be able to network with practitioners from other agencies, share best practice and glean new ideas.

Learning outcomes

• Explore the importance of Sensory Modulation: a bottom-up approach
• Understand what sensory processing challenges may look like for our adopted children
• Learn about strategies that may be useful in supporting general nervous system regulation
• Consider the possible impacts of pre-natal experiences upon the developing sensorimotor systems of the child
• Explore approaches to develop under-mature sensory systems, including sensorimotor development and sensory-attachment-intervention approaches

About the trainers

This training will be co-delivered by Helen Springfellow, Aeron Gates and Hannah McNulty, Occupational Therapists at the Centre for Adoption Support (CfAS). Gleaning upon both professional and personal experience in the world of sensory processing and adoption, they support families with adopted children, and other professionals involved in their lives, to understand the impacts of sensory modulation upon children’s regulation and daily functioning. The team have developed bespoke packages of support for families; focusing on sensory modulation, sensorimotor development (using the BUSS Model, Sarah Lloyd) and Sensory Attachment Intervention (SAI) approaches.

Instructions

A member of staff will be in touch with attendees one week prior to the event to share a pre-event delegate pack. If you have any questions regarding this webinar, please contact us at info@cvaa.org.uk. We will aim to answer your query within two working days.

CVAA accept online payments only. In case you do not have instant access to your company card, we suggest using your personal card instead to book a training event and claim it back with your agency in your expenses. Requesting an invoice to pay for our standard practice events is not possible.

Who this is for

Adoption practitioners and managers (Voluntary Adoption Agencies, Regional Adoption Agencies, Local Authorities, and independent social workers), children’s social care services, children and family social workers, foster carers, kinship carers, designated teachers, and other professionals working with children and families.

Details

TBC

Learning 0utcomes

TBC

About the trainers

TBC

Instructions

A member of staff will be in touch with attendees one week prior to the event to share a pre-event delegate pack.

If you have any questions regarding this webinar, please contact us at info@cvaa.org.uk. We will aim to answer your query within two working days.

CVAA accept online payments only. In case you do not have instant access to your company card, we suggest using your personal card instead to book a training event and claim it back with your agency in your expenses. Requesting an invoice to pay for our standard practice events is not possible.

Who this is for

Adoption practitioners and managers (Voluntary Adoption Agencies, Regional Adoption Agencies, Local Authorities, and independent social workers), children’s social care services, children and family social workers, foster carers, kinship carers, designated teachers, and other professionals working with children and families.

Details

Adoption has a significant and lasting impact on the adoptee and yet support is rarely available post 18. In 2022 the Joint Committee on Human Rights conducted an Inquiry into UK adoptions between 1949 and 1976 and recognized in its report that both mothers and children have faced lifelong suffering as a consequence of the separation and secrecy which surrounded these events.  In response to the report, the Welsh Government Minister currently responsible for adoption made a personal apology in January 2023 to those affected and promised to do whatever she could to ensure there was support available going forward.

“[I enjoyed…] hearing the experiences from adopted adults and how they approached accessing their records and seeking our birth family relatives. Their experiences highlighted factors, that I had not considered in my own practice. I will most definitely have more consideration moving forward.” – Attendee, 2023

This practice session will be delivered by adopted people and the professionals who are working with them to develop new services. During this practice session, you will hear from senior adoption practitioners at Adoption UK  who are leading the development of a Membership and Services offer for adult adoptees, you will also hear from National Adoption Service in Wales using a co-production model.

“[I…] felt all sessions of the day were informative and stimulating and were both theoretical and practical- a good balance with time to also talk to other practitioners in the same field in the breakout rooms.” – Attendee, 2023

You will have a unique opportunity to learn more about the specific aspect of this work, whilst at the same time having the opportunity to identify the situations you find most challenging and work in smaller groups to consider various solutions.

Learning 0utcomes

• Increased understanding of the psychological impact of historic adoption practices on adopted people.
• Understand the psychological tasks which adopted people may need to navigate throughout their lives.
• Explore how peer support combined with therapeutic knowledge, can be used to improve the mental health and general wellbeing of adopted people.

About the trainer

Ann Bell

Ann is an adopted person, adopted in 1959 in a closed adoption and an adoptive parent of a 16 year old.  For the last 15 years Ann has been the Director for Adoption UK in Wales.  Ann leads Adoption UK in the development of a support offer for adopted people which was launched in November 2022.   Ann is working closely with a group of adopted people and the National Adoption Service in Wales to develop a new programme of support for adopted people.

Instructions

A member of staff will be in touch with attendees one week prior to the event to share a pre-event delegate pack.

If you have any questions regarding this webinar, please contact us at info@cvaa.org.uk. We will aim to answer your query within two working days.

CVAA accept online payments only. In case you do not have instant access to your company card, we suggest using your personal card instead to book a training event and claim it back with your agency in your expenses. Requesting an invoice to pay for our standard practice events is not possible.

Who this is for

Adoption practitioners and managers (Voluntary Adoption Agencies, Regional Adoption Agencies, Local Authorities, and independent social workers), children’s social care services, children and family social workers, foster carers, kinship carers, designated teachers, and other professionals working with children and families.

Details

This expert-led training session led by Dr Helen Rodwell will help practitioners to develop an understanding of autism and neurodiversity in adopted children. We will learn about different ideas on how professionals can ‘get to know’ and then support autistic children, young people, and their families.

We will discuss the different aspects of autism and the challenges it can pose for children and parents, providing strategies for managing challenging situations.

The training day will explore the following areas:

• Overview of autism, neurodiversity, and neurodevelopmental disorder
• Beliefs about autism, trauma & attachment
• What does research and the autistic community tell us?
• Tools & resources to support adoptive parents navigating placement transitions, contact, and explaining the past

Learning 0utcomes

• Overview of autism, neurodiversity, and neurodevelopmental disorders.
• Overview of autism, trauma & attachment
• Tools & resources which professionals can use to get to know the autistic child/young person and identify what might help

About the trainer

Dr Helen Rodwell

Instructions

A member of staff will be in touch with attendees one week prior to the event to share a pre-event delegate pack.

If you have any questions regarding this webinar, please contact us at info@cvaa.org.uk. We will aim to answer your query within two working days.

CVAA accept online payments only. In case you do not have instant access to your company card, we suggest using your personal card instead to book a training event and claim it back with your agency in your expenses. Requesting an invoice to pay for our standard practice events is not possible.

Who this is for

Adoption practitioners and managers (Voluntary Adoption Agencies, Regional Adoption Agencies, Local Authorities, and independent social workers), children’s social care services, children and family social workers, foster carers, kinship carers, designated teachers, and other professionals working with children and families.

Details

During this bespoke expert-led training session led by Dr Beverley Prevatt Goldstein, practitioners will be guided in exploring the fluidity of cultural identity and cultural practice through self-reflection, academic and practice literature and research.

This will be the basis for structured activities which encourage minimising bias in assessing cultural practices and in identifying the appropriate cultural adoption placement for any child.

You will also have a unique opportunity to learn from fellow adoption practitioners, whilst at the same time having the opportunity to identify the situations you find most challenging and work in smaller groups to consider various solutions.

You will be able to hear from the latest research and practice/.

Learning 0utcomes

• Understanding of the complexity of culture and cultural identity and their link with ‘race’ and racism
• Understanding of the fluidity of cultural practices
• Confidence and competence in assessing the merits of a range of cultural practices
• Confidence and competence in providing placements which offer children wide and appropriate cultural opportunities.

About the trainer

Dr Beverley Prevatt Goldstein

More information to come.

Instructions

A member of staff will be in touch with attendees one week prior to the event to share a pre-event delegate pack.

If you have any questions regarding this webinar, please contact us at info@cvaa.org.uk. We will aim to answer your query within two working days.

CVAA accept online payments only. In case you do not have instant access to your company card, we suggest using your personal card instead to book a training event and claim it back with your agency in your expenses. Requesting an invoice to pay for our standard practice events is not possible.

Who this is for

Adoption practitioners and managers (Voluntary Adoption Agencies, Regional Adoption Agencies, Local Authorities, and independent social workers), children’s social care services, children and family social workers, foster carers, kinship carers, designated teachers, and other professionals working with children and families.

Details

This expert-led training will expand your knowledge on trauma and its impact on adoptive families by exploring how the neurobiology of trauma can be transferred between individuals, including the role of mirror neurons and other systemic factors that impact our ability to empathise with others.

“[I enjoyed…] the wealth of information the trainers had and informal discussions we had to build on this, really trying to involve us in virtual training.” – Atttendee, March 2023

This training will address the unique challenges faced by adoptive families, including the heightened sensitivity to traumatic experiences and the difficult decisions around disclosure and parenting. We will explore techniques and practices for managing secondary trauma without it impacting daily life and other relationships, including self-care, helping the child when they are distressed, and managing stress together through games, creativity, movement, and storytelling.

“This was really high quality training – much as I’ve has said the session was the right length for what it was, I could have done another day!” – Attendee, March 2022

Our expert speaker, David will also help build the skills and awareness necessary to intentionally act around trauma, leaning into those moments when it feels like you are ‘absorbing’ someone else’s trauma to enhance connection and mutual support. And with a focus on exploring your own trauma as a parent, you’ll be better equipped to help your adoptive child navigate their own experiences and build a stronger, more resilient family system.

You will be able to network with practitioners from other agencies, share best practice and glean new ideas.

Learning outcomes

• Understand the neurobiology of trauma and how it can be transferred between individuals
• Recognise the challenges faced by adoptive families who experience trauma, including heightened sensitivity to traumatic experiences and the difficult decisions around disclosure and parenting.
• Explore techniques and practices for managing secondary trauma
• Develop skills and attitudes necessary to support families experiencing secondary trauma and compassion fatigue
• Understand the importance of exploring your own trauma as a parent and the impact it can have on the adoptive family.
• Gain a deeper understanding of the impact of trauma on adoptive families and develop strategies to better support the family as a whole

About the trainers

David Bell

David is a DBT facilitator and specialist practitioner, with 25 years’ experience of working with young people and families who are experiencing grave challenges, in prisons, in hospices and in frontline charities.  He has worked as a consultant with leading clinical organisations to help develop training, most recently with the Anna Freud Centre, to enhance the experience of children who might need to talk to an adult about abuse and other worries they have, and with RSPH, to support a wider community of employers who wish to implement trauma-engaged working practices.  He is also Head of Research at Body & Soul, currently overseeing several multi-year projects in collaboration with UCL, Wellcome Trust and The Royal Statistical Society exploring variously: the impact of racism and other forms repetitive trauma on the brain; the variety of ways in which ‘vicarious’ trauma is socially constructed; and identifying a plausible methodology for demonstrating how much money the social care sector saves the government through preventative work – not least through supporting compassionate, trauma-engaged adoptive relationships when birth families break down.

Instructions

A member of staff will be in touch with attendees one week prior to the event to share a pre-event delegate pack. If you have any questions regarding this webinar, please contact us at info@cvaa.org.uk. We will aim to answer your query within two working days.

CVAA accept online payments only. In case you do not have instant access to your company card, we suggest using your personal card instead to book a training event and claim it back with your agency in your expenses. Requesting an invoice to pay for our standard practice events is not possible.

Who this is for

Adoption practitioners and managers (Voluntary Adoption Agencies, Regional Adoption Agencies, Local Authorities, and independent social workers), children’s social care services, children and family social workers, foster carers, kinship carers, designated teachers, and other professionals working with children and families.

Details

This is an interactive training course to help supporting adoption professionals to improve relationships by recognising and resolving compassion fatigue and blocked care in adoption and fostering. This course helps supporting professionals who are working with parents that are caring for Traumatised children to identify and manage compassion fatigue.

“The speakers were absolutely brilliant and spoke around the subject very well giving an insight into the topic.” – Attendee, November 2022

This course will cover neuro diversity and blocked care and will also include information on secondary trauma and grief for adopters.

Our trainers Sarah Naish and Sarah Dillon at The Centre of Excellence in Child Trauma will support professionals to identify and reject the usual ‘blame and withdraw’ model’, where there is actual or likely disruption, allowing them to work intensively alongside the parents, engaging in the ‘Therapeutic Parenting’ model.

“I loved all of it, the best course I have been on. Informative, personal and made so much sense.” – Attendee, November 2022

They will provide comprehensive information around how blocked care happens, changes in the brain and how we can overcome it and reconnect to our children.

Learning outcomes

• Understand the term Compassion Fatigue
• Understand how Compassion Fatigue happens
• Learn about strategies to overcome Compassion Fatigue and blocked care
• Identify the symptoms of Compassion Fatigue and give them strategies to manage and interrupt Compassion Fatigue

About the trainer

Sarah Naish and Sarah Dillon

More details to follow

Instructions

A member of staff will be in touch with attendees one week prior to the event to share a pre-event delegate pack.

If you have any questions regarding this webinar, please contact us at info@cvaa.org.uk. We will aim to answer your query within two working days.

CVAA accept online payments only. In case you do not have instant access to your company card, we suggest using your personal card instead to book a training event and claim it back with your agency in your expenses. Requesting an invoice to pay for our standard practice events is not possible.